"Air bag" organoleptic behavioral experiment for managing fear of oral malodor.

People suffering from the fear of oral malodor believe that they have halitosis, even though offensive oral malodor is absent. Management of such patients is challenging. A simple innovative technique, "air bag" breathing method can be used as a behavioral experiment to provide the patient with evidence that may disconfirm their pertinent belief. In this method air samples are collected in an odor free plastic bag from the patient and healthy volunteers and the patient blindly rates the odor quality of each sample.